What transpired Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium wasn’t a revelation.
It has been well established that the Miami Dolphins made one of the biggest draft mistakes in their history when Chris Grier and company chose Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth pick in 2020 instead of Justin Herbert, who became the gift that keeps on giving for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Having the quarterback they famously spurned in the draft turn what would have been an uplifting comeback victory for Miami into a gutting 29-27 defeat against the Chargers was merely salt rubbed in a painful wound.
The story was much bigger than the difference between quarterbacks. It was affirmation of the inability of this Dolphins leadership group — and the others that preceded it this century — to get much of anything right.
The latest loss was another example of a poorly constructed team that doesn’t have the aptitude or the attitude to win.
Tagovailoa points to need for better leadership
On what proved to be the decisive play, Herbert didn’t deliver the knockout punch as much with his arm as with sheer determination in the final minute. Jaelan Phillips had him in his grasp but Herbert shrugged off the linebacker and made an easy throw to a wide-open Ladd McConkey who raced to a 42-yard gain to the Miami 17.
Instead of a game-saving sack, it was game over with a gimme field goal coming a few plays later.
It didn’t even come as a surprise from a 1-5 team that always finds a way to lose, provided they are not playing against the even more woeful New York Jets.
Tagovailoa, in his postgame media session, offered eye-opening insight into what is lacking inside this team, revealing that some players have shown up late and in some cases skipped players-only meetings in recent weeks.
“I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” he said.
Coach Mike McDaniel noted that these meetings aren’t required. But it would seem that a team prone to missing assignments, whiffing on blocks and tackles and committing game-altering penalties, would be taking every extra opportunity to attempt to eliminate the mistakes that have already rendered this a lost season.
Justin Herbert quickly negates Dolphins’ comeback with Herculean effort
As for the quarterbacks, there was a certain symmetry in the game beginning and ending with interceptions by Tagovailoa, who threw three on the day.
While boos directed at Tua were justified, give him credit for doing what he hasn’t done often enough in rallying the offense from a fourth quarter deficit. He led back-to-back long touchdown drives to put Miami ahead 27-26 with less than a minute remaining.
Herbert had 39 seconds to get the Chargers into field-goal range and he did it with several seconds to spare.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, in his postgame comments, compared Herbert to Hercules and said of the quarterback’s effort on the final pass to McConkey: “That play will be burning in my mind until they throw dirt over top of me.”
Imagine how it burns from a Dolphins’ fan perspective.
No one could try to argue at this point that the Dolphins wouldn’t have been better off with Herbert, with the possible exception of Dolphins general manager Grier, whose career will ultimately fall on that sword.
Drastic change inevitable for struggling Dolphins
McDaniel said being 1-5 “sucks” before rambling on about finding ways to fix what’s wrong, adding, “While we didn’t get it done, the guys showed me why I believe in them.”
Viewed from outside the team, belief has clearly left the building, where a banner calling for firing Grier and McDaniel again flew over the stadium.
The loss dropped McDaniel’s record as Dolphins coach below .500 at 29-30.
“I’m not worried about the team staying together, I’m worried about getting our football right,” he said. “I think that’s the fourth game that we’ve lost in the final couple of minutes this season … so we’ve got to figure that out.”
It is the refrain of clueless coaches everywhere: Watch the film and figure out how to get better.
If defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver wanted to throw up after last week’s gut-wrenching collapse at Carolina, wait until he watches the video of the third quarter against the Chargers. His defense gave up two touchdowns and 155 yards.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins were held to a minus-11 yards during that floundering 15-minute stretch.
See, there are problems everywhere, including special teams, which allowed a generous kickoff return that gave the Chargers favorable field position for their final drive.
There is no doubt that drastic change is coming for the Dolphins, the question is when. More daunting is finding a way out of this never-ending cycle of poor decisions and failure on the field.
Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for more than four decades. Follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @CraigDavisRuns.
